Longing Lion

For the labor day weekend, my best friend, my aunt and I drove down to Virginia to visit with family friends of ours. The only live about 20 minutes from Washington, DC so naturally we did the whole tourist bit, went through museums and saw the monuments and such. The family stayed with has four kids the oldest being the 13 and the youngest being 4, so we thought it would be a great idea to go to the zoo. I personally feel you're never to old to do things like go to the zoo, especially when I love animals and nature the way I do. And that's where the day's problem started.

Being empathic like a lot of other people here, being in crowed places does sometimes bother me, especially when in close proximity, so I was a tad on edge anyway. I'm usually pretty good at keeping control of myself and blocking out what I can, and of course I didn't want to ruin a good time. But we had been doing so much and we were at the zoo later in the afternoon, so I was beginning to get really tired. And I know that when I get to a certain point of being tired, I become vulnerable and sensitive to what's going on around me. I personally don't like the thought of animals not aloud to roam free and natural as they were meant to, so I was already beginning to feel bleak about that.

But then we rounded the corner to where the tigers and lions are. First was the tigers, and looking down in, you could see there was only one tiger out. And he seemed to me very tired and somber. I pushed off any odd thinking and we moved on. Next was the lions. Well, lion. One male lion paced around the area along the side of the water pool. His head hung low and he seemed to me to be searching, worriedly. I had remembered earlier passing a sign that excitedly announced the birth of two new lion cubs just days before, and that the cubs were being held in a different place, one for new born animals. We stood for a while and just watched him, but then I began to feel something heavy, like bricks on my chest. I watched the lion, as he began to pant. Being tourist like, I took out my camera and set it on 'record video'. Just in time for the lion to begin to roar. Everyone was so excited, thought it was so cool. Some people laughed and said, oh! He's talking! I just watched. And I knew of course he wasn't just roaring. He was calling. It sent a deep cold heavy shiver down my spine and struck my heart. I held my breath and watched, tears filling my eyes. I began to sway, and thankfully my best friend was right beside me. She steadied me and asked if I was OK. I shook my head. At first she was confused, then she realized. She too is empathic and in tune and such, but as she puts it, she's just beginning to accept things and is still guarded, so she wasn't picking up on what I was. But she did begin to pick up on what I was feeling. We watched the lion continue his call, in kind of a barking way, it was strange, yet eerie and sad. I said to her, 'It's the lion cubs. He's looking for them.' And then he began to make a sort of moaning crying sound. Which only made me cry, even as people cheered and laughed at thought it was amazing. I only felt the longing.

I have never ever had such a strong reaction to something like this. I mean, I've felt things from animals before, but this was extreme. I'm not sure if it's because I was caught off guard or because I was tired, or because it was such a strong feeling. Which is why I'm posting it here, because I thought it'd be an interesting story to share. If I can figure out how to get up the video It will definitely be up. =)